The Federal Government on Monday said it would build two emergency power plants in Lagos to ensure adequate power supply in the state.
President Goodluck Jonathan said this at the opening of the 6th Lagos Economic Summit tagged: “Ehingbeti 2012“.
Jonathan, who was represented by Mr Segun Aganga, the Minister of Trade and Investment, said that the proposed power plants would be built in Ijora and Egbin areas of the state.
The president described Lagos as the commercial hub of Nigeria and said it required adequate power supply to impact more on the nation`s growth.
“We know that the issue of power cannot be solved by the Federal Government alone. And there are many investment opportunities that abound in the power sector.
“For this reason, we have privatised the power sector. And we further focus on creating an enabling environment for investors to survive in the country.
“ Our administration will work closely with the state governments and the private sector to deliver power supply to Nigerians,” Jonathan said.
He said that the Federal Government was ready to partner the state governments, particularly Lagos State Government, to improve power generation and distribution through the Public Private Partnership (PPP).
“The aim of the Federal Government to increase power capacity this year is to bring Lagos State to a sustainable power supply adequacy.
“This, we will be doing by channelling power from the power plants that will be commissioned later this year to provide more power to Lagos State.
“And, we are working on two important power plants to be sited in Ijora and Egbin.“ he said.
The president also said that the state was central to the realisation of the Vision 20:2020, adding that the Federal Government was poised to promote development of infrastructure in the state.
He said that the government had begun the rehabilitation of Apapa/Oshodi expressway to further stimulate economic activities in the state by easing the movement of goods in and out of the ports.
Jonathan said that the Federal Government had concluded plans to cede some rail facilities to the state government as a way of supporting the ongoing light rail project and to boost transportation in the state.
The president said that the Murtala Muhammed Airport Road and other federal projects in the state would soon be given adequate attention.
He said that his administration was committed to promoting transformative growth in the country, saying that policies had been designed to achieve the objective.
Gov. Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State commended the? privatisation programme of the Federal Government in the power sector, saying that the sector needed to be fully liberalised to achieve the desired results.
He said that there was the need to promote more competition in the sector by allowing investors to bid on a level playing ground to turn the sector around as done with telecommunications.
Fashola described power as the pivot of industrialisation, saying that the state would take advantage of the privitisation programme and further invest in the power infrastructure to boost power supply.
The governor said that the biennial economic summit was the state government`s way of stimulating development in the state.
He said that the past resolutions of the summit had been implemented to propel growth in the state. (NAN)
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